I am frequently asked, “How does our election process work in Pennsylvania?”

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, as well as Republican candidates, need to have their names appear on our ballots when we go to vote in the April 26 primary.

How do those names get onto the ballot?

Major party presidential candidates are required to submit nomination petitions with a minimum of 2,000 signatures to have their names placed on the primary ballot. Now we don’t expect to have Martin, Hillary, Bernie or any of the other presidential candidates knock on our door and ask us to sign their petition. So what can be done?

Democrat and Republican volunteers at our local York level circulate petitions for the presidential candidates and the delegates who will represent them at the conventions this summer. Petitions are also being circulated for statewide and districtwide candidates, such as for Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and for state legislature positions.

If someone asks you to sign a petition to get a candidate on the primary ballot, you may exercise your duty as a citizen by signing your name, address and the date. This does not commit you to vote for the candidate. And it does not cast a vote in advance for the candidate. You can sign for one candidate today and decide to vote for a different one in April after you learn more about all of the people running for office.

In order for your signature to count toward the total needed for a candidate to appear on the ballot, you must be a registered voter of the same political party as the candidate. And you must live in the jurisdiction that the candidate represents. Also, if three candidates are running for one office, you may sign only for one of them. For instance, if you are a registered Democrat, you may sign a nomination petition for Hillary Clinton or for Bernie Sanders, but not for both.

The time period for the gathering of signatures is quite short and coincides with some typically nasty weather. Please help make our electoral process work. Do your part. If someone asks you to sign a petition, please do so. If you are ineligible to sign because you are not a registered voter, please register to vote. You can do it online at www.pavoterservices.state.pa.

Registered Democrats who want to help with the petitioning process can pick up petitions to circulate at Democratic Headquarters, 135 S. Duke St., York. Call 812-1200 to let us know you’ll be coming.

Petitioning ends on Tuesday, Feb. 16, when all petitions, notarized, must be turned in to the Pennsylvania Department of State in Harrisburg by the candidates or their campaigns.

Iowa, shmyowa. Go Pennsylvania!

Suzanne C. Gates is vice chair of the Democratic Party of York County.